One of the great stories
of the Old Testament is that of Jacob and Esau. Twin brothers, they struggled
with each other literally from birth.

The pivotal moment in
their rivalry came one day when Esau returned to the tents consumed by hunger
and asked Jacob for something to eat.

Jacob, the younger of the
two, and ever the schemer, demanded that Esau first sell his birthright. Esau
did so, and for this act the Book of Hebrews describes Esau as godless.

Esau's sin was his profane
rejection of his sacred birthright. As the oldest son, Esau was heir to the
family name, and to the greater portion of his father's possessions.

But even more important,
Esau was heir to the covenant God had made with Abraham and Isaac. That covenant
promised a blessing to all people would come from this family line. Instead,
Jacob became the father of the twelve Hebrew tribes and the nation of Israel.

And Esau gave it all away
for a bowl of stew.

He sold his birthright to
alleviate the temporary discomfort of hunger. Rather than endure the immediate
agony, Esau focused only on his desires of the moment.

Like Esau, we the people
of these United States are heirs to a nation. The founding fathers bequeathed
to us the greatest system of government this world has ever known. And also
like Esau, we have sought to wriggle out of the responsibilities of being
citizens of this country.

The Framers of the
Constitution endeavored to create a federal government that would be
accountable to the public. The 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention in
1787 hammered out a series of checks and balances to ensure the federal
government would not trample on the freedoms of individuals.

But we are ultimately
responsible for what goes on in our government and in our country. We are not
subject to unaccountable oligarchs. That is the genius of the republic the
founding fathers left us, the power of our vote and the right to speak our
mind.

Sadly, I believe we are
numb, even apathetic in exercising our duties of oversight. In the past year,
our President committed perjury, and the public barely yawned. Instead of
expressing outrage at the President's criminal behavior, the public was more
upset with the independent prosecutor.

We allow politicians to
lie to us about economic matters. Reductions in rates of increase of spending
are mendaciously called cuts. Tax cuts are characterized as taking money from
some nebulous pool and giving it to people who already have too much, instead
of emphasizing that tax cuts mean people will keep more of their own money that
they earned themselves. Too many people feel they have a right to retire at age
65 and expect the government, via taxes on working people, to be their primary
source of retirement and pay their medical bills for the next 30 years.

There are metal detectors
at the entrances of many public schools. Yet if you walk past those security
measures, down the hall and into a classroom and try to hang a copy of the Ten
Commandments, which tell a child not to kill someone with the gun they are not
supposed to be bringing to school, you face a confrontation with the courts,
which feel such a seditious display is a threat to the Constitution.

We have completely
forgotten the important role religion has played in our history. We accept the
utterly mistaken notion that separation of church and state means religion
should be barred from the public arena. We forget the First Amendment
specifically allows the free exercise of religion.

There is a coarsening of
our standards, with foul language becoming increasingly prevalent in all manner
of movies, TV programs and books, as well as in public conversation. Try
walking from one end of the MSU campus to the other between classes without
overhearing some profanity. It is not easy to do.

Esau wept when he
realized what he lost. He begged to get his birthright back, but it was too
late. I hope we don't reach a point in this country where it is too late to get
back what we are losing.

We have forgotten from
whence we came. We are failing to protect our heritage, and in so doing we are
forfeiting that which makes America unique.

So enjoy your bowl of
stew, America, for it will never be as sweet as the precious birthright you are
giving away for nothing.